Good morning investors! The stock market recovered a bit yesterday but BTC remains under $65,000.
Today we cover:
Goldman Sachs predicts
Big earnings
AMD-Meta deal
📊 Economy and News
Stronger US Growth in 2026 Ahead, But Key Risks Loom
Goldman Sachs forecasts robust US economic growth in 2026, outpacing consensus estimates. Analysts project GDP expansion of 2.5% (Q4-to-Q4 basis, above Bloomberg's 2.1%) and 2.8% for the full year.
Main drivers include:
Tax cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act boosting consumer and business activity.
Reduced drag from tariffs (following Supreme Court rulings and policy adjustments).
Easier financial conditions and expected Fed rate cuts supporting investment.
Business investment is seen as the strongest GDP component.
Key risks highlighted:
A sharp stock market correction (e.g., 10% drop could shave ~0.5% off GDP via weaker consumer spending) — flagged as the most significant near-term threat.
AI-driven labor market disruptions, potentially raising unemployment and curbing demand.
Higher consumer costs from any remaining tariffs.
Oil price spikes from geopolitical tensions or private lending risks.
While no single risk likely triggers recession, a combination (e.g., equity sell-off plus AI job displacement without strong productivity gains) could pose substantial headwinds, possibly prompting more aggressive Fed rate cuts.
This outlook follows a slower 2025 close (Q4 at 1.4%, full-year 2.2%), amid resilient but uneven consumer spending.
Global hits:
SNB chairman expects Swiss inflation to pick up. Elsewhere, Mexico’s annual inflation speeds more than expected in early February.
Brazil January tax revenue climbs to record level after Lula income tax overhaul.
Central Bank of Nigeria cuts interest rate to 26.5%.
Reminder: Gold slips from three‑week high on dollar strength, profit-taking.
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📈 Stocks
S&P 500 6,890.07 (+0.77%)
DJIA 49,174.50 (+0.76%)
NASDAQ 22,863.68 (+1.04%)
BRENT CRUDE 71.21 (+0.62%)
* Prices as of Feb 25th, 12:20 AM UTC
Big Names Reports Earnings Misses
Some major companies announced earnings yesterday:
Lucid Group reported mixed fourth-quarter result, widely missing Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations, while beating average revenue estimates by roughly 12%. For 2026, the all-electric vehicle maker announced a vehicle production target of between 25,000 and 27,000 units, which would be a roughly 40% to 51% increase compared with last year.
Workday shares fell 10% in extended trading after the human resources and finance software maker reported light quarterly guidance. The company has been adding generative AI features to its portfolio. During the quarter, Workday said it would release an AI agent for handling requests to modify work shifts. Workday also acquired Pipedream, a startup with tools for connecting AI agents to a variety of external services.
Cava beat Wall Street estimates for its fourth-quarter earnings and forecast growth for fiscal year 2026. The company reported full-year revenue of more than $1 billion for the first time. Cava CFO Tricia Tolivar said the company has been able to create a “bridge” in the increasingly K-shaped economy. Though the company said last quarter that it saw a pullback among younger consumers, Tolivar said that trend came to an end in the final three months of its fiscal year. Also, she added that some of Cava’s best performing restaurants are in markets where median household incomes are lower. Tolivar said the company is expecting strong results from its upcoming menu additions, including a salmon offering, which will mark Cava’s first entry into seafood.
Interesting: S&P 500 poised to gain 10% by year-end, but trade, AI disruption concerns persist.
Microsoft is collaborating with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service on a global connectivity effort.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given Anthropic until Friday to agree to broad military access for its AI models.
Surprising: Spirit Airlines reaches restructuring deal with lenders. In other news, Novo Nordisk to slash GLP-1 list prices by up to 50% in U.S. to cut costs for insured patients. Furthermore, Stripe is reportedly in early discussions to potentially buy PayPal. The news sent PayPal up 7%. Lastly, Apple to move some Mac Mini production to U.S. this year as part of effort to boost domestic manufacturing.
AMD-Meta deal: Meta Platforms has entered a major multiyear deal with AMD to deploy up to 6 gigawatts of Instinct GPUs and AI-optimized CPUs in its AI data centers, with customized MI450-based Helios systems shipping starting in late 2026. Valued in the tens of billions of dollars (potentially $60–100 billion+ over several years), the agreement follows Meta's recent pledge to buy millions of Nvidia GPUs and includes a performance-based warrant for Meta to acquire up to 160 million AMD shares (about 10% of the company), vesting based on deployment milestones, stock price targets, and other conditions. The partnership strengthens AMD's role as a key Nvidia competitor in the AI chip market and drove a sharp rise in AMD's stock price following the announcement.
💵 Personal Finance
Set a Bedtime to Take Control of Your Day
If you’re constantly rushing, the fix might be simple: set a consistent bedtime.
Most people keep a regular wake-up time but let bedtime slide. The result is uneven sleep, inconsistent focus, mounting to-do lists and costly mistakes that force you to backtrack.
In a 2021 productivity study of more than 150 people, participants who adopted a fixed bedtime called it “the least sexy, but the most impactful” habit. A 2025 study published in Nature, which tracked over 79,000 working adults in Japan, found that irregular bedtimes were linked to lower productivity and greater disengagement at work.
A set bedtime gives shape to the entire day. Knowing when your day ends helps you make realistic plans about what will fit — and what won’t.
Sleep experts agree consistency matters. Rachel Salas of Johns Hopkins University notes that irregular sleep disrupts your circadian rhythm, affecting cognition, memory and overall health. Most adults need about seven hours of sleep, though individual needs vary.
To find your ideal bedtime, start with your required wake-up time and count backward based on how much sleep helps you feel sharp. Then stick to it. Consistency at night can mean calmer, more productive days.
💰 Be a Better Investor
"Fortune does not change a man, it unmasks them."
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